3 Punjab cops booked for abetting suicide

The brothers have been identified as Manavjit Singh Dhillon, 40, and Jashanbir Singh Dhillon, 36. The family of the brothers runs a school and a hospital in Punjab.

The body of Jashanbir Singh was recovered from the fields near the banks of River Beas in the Sultanpur Lodhi area Saturday. While the body of the other brother has not been traced yet.

The father of the deceased said he would not cremate the body until the body of his other son is traced.

The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by Manavdeep Singh, a friend of one of the brothers and an eyewitness.

The tragedy occurred a day after Manavjit Singh along with a few others visited a police station in Jalandhar to attend a meeting concerning a matrimonial dispute involving the sister of one of their friends.

The in-laws of the woman allegedly misbehaved with her and Manavjit Singh, and the police sided with the husband’s family.

Later in the day (August 16), Manavjit Singh was summoned by the SHO and an altercation ensued between them. The SHO reportedly slapped Manavjit Singh, causing his turban to fall off, and he also beat him up. The latter was detained overnight and released on bail only after furnishing security bonds.

“His (Manavjit’s) younger brother Jashanbir Singh took this incident to heart. The following evening, after Manavjit was granted bail and returned home, Jashanbir left without informing anyone. Manavjit called Jashanbir and he answered the call. Jashanbir said that Manavjit was subjected to humiliation by the SHO, and he could not bear it, and so he was considering jumping into the river,” said Manavdeep Singh.

The complainant said both he and Manavjit Singh reached Goindwal Sahib Bridge and tried to dissuade Jashanbir Singh. But Jashanbir Singh jumped into the river, and in a desperate attempt to save his brother, Manavjit Singh, too, dived in.

Upon receiving information about the incident, the police rushed to the spot and initiated a search. Unfortunately, due to the river’s strong current, divers struggled to locate them.

Earlier, the accused SHO had claimed that Manavjit Singh had misbehaved with a policewoman. “We kept him in custody as a preventive measure under Section 107/151 of the CrPC,” the SHO said.

SSP Kapurthala Rajpal Singh Sandhu said a case has been registered under Sections 306 (abetment of suicide), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code against the accused police personnel.